family pictures

family pictures are always stressful, but add a couple of kids, and then you have mayhem. thank goodness this time wasnt like the last couple of times we have been to Portrait Innovations.

the guy who took our photos was really good. he had some visions for us and then he was quick in executing them. it was very nice. and he learned all our names. it was awesome!! here are some of the pictures we took...



this was pose one. unfortunately this is the best exposure,
and it has the most people looking at the camera.



this is pose two for the family. this is on the christmas card.

 

this is also on the christmas card. it is pose three for the family.



this is pose four for the family. i like this pose,
but it also accentuates that we have a large family.

this is not how this pose is supposed to look like.
and my mom is totally oblivious to the tongue.



this is how its supposed to look. gorgeous. :)

this is rachels individual. i like it

i really really like this pose and this picture.
possible the best picture ive taken in a long time.

this is a twin shot. i think it turned out awesome too!

this is the picture julie choose she liked the best.

we did a full body, but it didnt look right...

this is russells awesome picture.

i think i like this one better than the full body.

i like this picture of him too.

but not as much as his other one.

christians best shot.

he doesnt know how to smile without looking pained.

hannahs gorgeous little picture.

little miss attitude.

spencers mountonous dimples.

how adorable!!

i like this pose too... its a tie for spencer.

twin shot #2

how cute!!

 

this is the kids best pose.

we had one where we are spaced out more, but its too spaced.

that concludes our photo shoot. the photographer got us in and out of the studio in an hour and a half which is impressive considering our size..

Merry Christmas to All!!

the heartbreak of love.

**CAUTION! DO NOT READ THIS IN PUBLIC. IT WILL MOST LIKELY MAKE YOU CRY**


read this story and then tell me that it doesnt tug at your heart:

With Love, Sabrina Parker and Matt Scozzari Face a Deadly Diagnosis

i thought it was gorgeous. they had a video on Yahoo! a couple of days ago, and it was heart wrenching. i think what Matt did was so precious and what a true husband would have done. what a shame they couldnt marry Sabrina. well i guess there is alway eternity.

freezing and getting into the christmas spirit

well seeing how we are drawing ever closer to Christmas, our gas decided to leak, making the house a chilly 66 degrees making it very difficult to stay warm. our gas guy has still to come by and turn the gas back on after the heating and air guys came and fixed it. so we are compromising until the heat comes back on by wrapping up in warm jammies and fantastically warm blankets.

of course i would rather be comfortable in the clothes i have on without a blanket, but the blanket and the cold makes it easier to get into the Christmas spirit. thanks so much to Grooveshark, i can access all the Christmas carols and songs i want to, all by a couple of clicks. of course all this scene needs is some hot chocolate and we would have a perfect Christmas image, but unfortunately, im too lazy to make myself some. hahahaha  i would of course love to be snuggled up to a special someone, but he knows who he is, so i wont mention names. ;)

merry christmas to all, and i hope you all have the best one yet in just 8 days!! yipee!!

childhood memories two

recently i had the oppurtunity to feel like a child again. receiving letters in the mail has always been a thrill through elementary school and even now into high school. sending letters has its lags but its so much fun! writing thoughts and having a hard copy of that letter. even when you have to take some time to write down your thoughts. its sooo much fun!!

childhood memories three and SNOW

memory three is riding in the car and being scared to death of never making it home. that was last night. tennessee got a little bit of snow and unfortunately a lot of people in this town DONT know how to drive in snow. thus making this town VERY DANGEROUS to drive around in especially when the roads are dry underneath the snow. fortunately for us, the road was warmer than the snow when it started to snow, so the road had to cool down. by yesterday afternoon, the road was wet, but the snow was beginning to stick. yippee!! by about 730, the snow was sticking to the road by the inches. thank goodness dad had put new tires on the subarban earlier in the weekend and that the focus has front wheel drive. the snow plows had been around to some of the scarier back roads and had salted and cleared those roads. kingston pike had had some heavy traffic that day, so it was relatively safe and clear of snow.

we took the road about way to get home because we thought it would be the safest way, but unfortunately it probably wasnt. when we drove by our normal entrance to loop, they had salted and cleared the snow from that hill. we decided to go around though. it was too late. we went on a road that was almost as bad as loop road at the beginning. it was whindy and very scary. a car had STOPPED in front of an entrance making it very hard for mom to make it over that hill. mom almost skidded, but thank goodness made it over. we passed by an accident because they had skidded and nosedived into a roadside ditch. soo nerve racking. we finally made it to the home stretch but the scariest hill and corner were around the bend. we made it around the scariest turn- a completely BLIND turn- and into our neighborhood. we pulled over and put the  suburban into four-wheel drive (with the help of my father, NOT THE OWNERS MANUAL!!) and made it up the treacherous hill safely.

thank goodness.

our home teacher was going to be valiant and come and see us, but abandoned mission about half way here. decided it was too dangerous. but we did end up having a visitor. a friend from church came and gave us cinnamon rolls for helping them move. they have jsut moved here from utah, so he showed up in shorts, flip flops, and a tshirt!! (keep in mind that its like literally 3 degrees outside.) he had walked up our huge hill because his wife didnt want to drive up it (smart woman). we watched him literally shoe ski down the hill. it was great. hahaha but not entirely safe....

this blog and the "void"

so rachel gave me a hard time the other day. wow! you have a lot of posts.

to which my dad responded: yea, your sister spends a lot of time on there.


which i hope isnt really true. but when i think about it i guess im trying to fill a void for the facebook that i soo badly want. but unfortunately that isnt on the horizon apparently. and neither is the communication with my church friends from other towns. or my family members on the other side of the mississippi river. but no. apparently that isnt a good enough reason to off-set my moms biggest fears.

i cant wait to get a facebook. but if i get one, i will still try and update this.

29 days until christmas

i know its bizarre to think that i am already counting down, but in my defense i wasnt the one who was counting down. it was my younger siblings. hahaha but i really am excited for christmas. because of one very special gift that cant be wrapped. family. if my grandfather can sell his spec house, he and grandma can come into town. i cant wait!!

thanksgiving weekend

this thanksgiving the school board decided to be nice and give the kids wednesday through friday off. thank goodness.

wednesday we didnt have any mutual so rachel snapped the opportunity to have a party. a just-for-the-heck-of-it party. we ended up having two dozen people show up to the house at one point and we had a lot of fun. we played catch phrase, capture the flag, mafia (upon popular request *cough*cough* **barrett** *cough*cough*), and then we settled down with The Princess Bride. yes possibly the greatest movie of all time... and ive only seen it three times. i know i know what a shame...

thanksgiving was a blast. the church girls got together to play powder puff football at the high school and it was a lot of fun. we were playing touch until becker showed up with flags which turned out to be soo much better. our team turned out to be significantly better at defense than offence. what a shame. ahaha but we still had fun. we had a family friend the raineys over for dinner and some horse play aka motorcycle riding for the little boys and some chatting for the female. hahaha sadly i must admit that the tom boy came out in me and i spent my time watching the rainey boys race around our yard on a couple of small motorcycles. soo adorable. hahahahahaha then we went for dessert to the giacalones and we were going to play games but that didnt work out hahaha too much chatting going on. plus too many people.


and lets see. whats left for this post? o yes! a list of thankful fors....

so i am thankful for...

this little goober that is a ball of laughter and fun one breath

and a raging tyrannt the next

but that is the fun part. always living on your toes

this little girlie who refuses to be called our little sister

and wants to be seen as my equal and nothing less

i just hope that she continues with her persistance

this little sweetheart who is the sweetest little girl ever.

she reminds me of rachel somedays so much i almost call her that.

shes adorable and the sweetest little mommy's helper ever.

this goofball i get to call my twin sister.

shes a freakball sometimes but my best friend too.

the coolest girl EVER

the oppurtinity to build onto our house.

i was trying to find a picture of the back of the house,

put that didnt work.

these amazing people. they are the greatest parents ever.

and the greaest role models. thanks so much mommy and daddy

the great moments in life like this. father and son bonding time...

even if the son doesnt enjoy it as much

nature.

the beautiful moments that can only be caught with a camera or your eyes

this goofball of a brother.

love the kid to death.

he should be a drama kid hes that funny

this little cutie.

he is a little boy who knows what he wants in the world.

even if hes about ten years too early :)

the gospel. for the standards it has set me with.

for the beautiful reading that it has filled my life with.

for good books that my mom has helped me choose.

as well as my grandmas.

a warm bed to sleep in.

even if i hardly ever make the thing.

make up and a toothbrush.

what would i do without hygiene.

for clothes! what a blessing

technology. if it is too slow for my liking sometimes.

shoes. boy o boy do i take them for granted.

and then friends. but i dont have a picture of that. hahaha there are too many friends to count and put into one picture. love you all

i think that is all. if i havent thought of it assume im thankful for it. unless its something like war... then its questionable. hahaha :)

marching contests and football season catch up

in the last couple of weeks, the band has gone to a couple of different band competitions. the first we went to was at sullivan north high school for the "music in the foothills" competition. we did really well all things considered, although the guard didn't even place. the band placed first in drum majors, second in percussion, third (last of 3) in guard/majorettes, first in the AAAA division, first in the AAA and AAAA combined section, and then first in the over all competition. after review of the scores, our guard just happened to be the guard that the judge didnt particularly like the most. the ride there and back on the bus was so much fun. we colored and talked and slept and talked some more, vedged on some food and did all the fun stuff that you do on band buses. (on a PG level, of course)

the second and last competition was the most fun. just kidding! it wasnt as far away as the first competition was so we didnt stop at any point in time in the ride. therefore we were allowed to enjoy a little more time together before we left. my dad took me over to the high school as soon as the band room opened so that i could hang out with my freshie, talk, polish a horn or two with a friend, and do some last minute practicing before we loaded up the truck and headed out. by this point in time, i had been adopted as the guard member on loading crew (for away events for the band) and therefore helped put tubas, drums, trombones, etc. on the truck before we left. as a joke the parent in charge of loading crew wanted dillion (the senior on loading) to pack so compactly so that we could fit the gator on the truck if we werent going to be renting a trailor. of course we rented a trailor, but if we hadnt we could have easily put the gator on the truck if we wanted to. the drive up to sequoyia high school wasnt awful and it went by rather quickly. when we got to sequoyia, we started to unload the truck, and when the bass drums came of the truck, one of the cases got put too far underneath the truck and a rim on one side of the drum got smashed. mr. clemons, the percussion instructor, wasnt at the competition, so mr. rogers was the first to hear about it. and of course he was super pissed about the whole thing. thank goodness that the home band was there so we just borrowed their smallest bass drum and problem solved. we ended up being the largest band at the "Band Jam" competition so we got all the first places in the AAAA division, we won the AAA and AAAA division and then won the HUGE trophy for overall. unfortunately the HUGE trophy is a traveling trophy which means that we have to send it back to Sequoia next year. ;(

the football team won against william blount and so we went into the playoffs. we traveled to sevier county and on the way there hit a four car collision. the resulting traffic jam resulted in a two hour hold up and we missed the first half of the game. we had to pull over to a gas station because one of the girls in the back had to use the bathroom so bad. we then got the school just in time to warm up, quickly watch sevier county's band who graciously went first, and then we went on. we did a really good run of the first three songs and then marched off because of the buzzer. the band didnt take the third quarter off because we missed the first half. Farragut won against Sevier County 41-21 and we will proceed in the play offs against maryville on friday. we would have played at home, but maryville won... guess there goes our chance at getting very far in the playoffs.......... ;(

the last home game aka senior night

the last home football game is alwasy hard. but this one was extra hard. our running back coach for the football team passed away thursday night of some diabetic related heart problems. he also had pancreatic cancer. yesterday during first block we had a moment of silence for Mr. Shoup and his family. a lot of the school felt the repercussions of his death, so the guidance counselors were in a classroom all day to offer counseling to any student or teacher that felt like they needed to. the football team was called down into the gym to talk to the head coach about what was going to happen about last nights game.

the cheerleaders made a sign with "do it 4 shoup" written on it, and the football team helped make "rs do it for shoup" bracelets for the entire student body, staff, and any attendee at the game. the senior class also made some flags that they flew that had the same slogan on it. on one they printed their hand, and then made some comments for shoup. i felt for one of my friends. she has been through a lot the past couple of weeks. her grandfather passed away a couple of weeks ago and she was very close to Mr. Shoup to see him pass away, it be senior night, and having to listen to everyone screaming "do it for shoup!" was very hard for her. she was very emotional and almost made me cry many many times.

here is a link and story about Ryan Shoup and some other events of the football game.
http://www.wbir.com/news/article/139374/5/Update-Farragut-assistant-football-coach-remembered-by-brother


the band recgonized the seniors as well as the football team last night. sadly that meant a lot more crying for the guard. we will be loosing only four members this year, but the smaller the amount the harder it is to say good-bye quite frankly. we had to do our show after the game again, but this time we were actually allowed on the field to do what we wanted during half time. the lenior city band stayed to watch, of course.

farragut beat lenior city 16-7.

adorable bag #2

i made another bag like the black one i made a couple weeks ago, this time i made it for the girl on the colorguard that i am giving secret sister gifts to. the bag turned out so adorable and it was super easy this time because i actually knew what i was doing without having to really pour over the instructions. the only hard time i had was with the attachment of the lining to the outside. that was the trickest part.

this one turned out so cute i might go buy some of this fabric and make myself one! hahaha :)

bearden vs. farragut #2

the rivalry game is always the biggest game of the year. the stands are packed and the crowd is semi attentive to the game. the people there at the game usually are there to watch Farragut beat Bearden, or vice versa depending on where you go. the bands are not allowed to have the rivalry spirit in the hopes of being good sports and the on-lookers arent usually awful to us (us, being the band members). but apparently a couple years back they had some issues with band members so they dont want us to go past the bearden section without a buddy/group.

no big pranks this year, which was probably a very good thing. although we had a big injury. one of the starters was running a play and a bearden player ended up taking the dude down and messing with his ankle. BAD... all of the ligaments in his ankle, his ankle, and some open fracture leg material. needless to say he was screaming in pain, they had him on an IV and a stretcher before they even thought about getting him off the field. unfortunately that was the sad part. good part? FARRAGUT BEAT BEARDEN WITH LIKE 0 SECONDS ON THE CLOCK!!! for a little while we didnt think we were going to win, but we pulled ahead winning 32-26 with literally like 0.3 seconds on the clock.

farraguts band didnt end up getting to perform during half time because of the baseball team recognition and the can drive announcement (of course bearden won, we wont be getting into those details) and bearden's band did their entire show like THEY WERENT SUPPOSED TO! but we were responsible people and we got off the field BEFORE the team got penalized for "game delay". we did the show after the game and we had some stragglers stay and watch.

thanks guys! :)

driving update

as many of you know, i have had the oppurtunity to get my permit!! exciting!!! lol the last couple of weeks me and my sister have been taking turns driving to early morning seminary and to church. (we would drive to like school functions, but we hardly ever take the suburban around town...) but as of yesterday, the fact that we cant drive when we take the focus is about to change. yesterday after guard practice, my father surprised me and told me that he was going to let me drive for a little while in the parking lot, and then he was going to let me drive the stick home!! aah!! so exciting.

of course as soon as i got into the drivers seat, the heaven's unleashed a new bucket of rain, but that wasnt the hardest part of the drive. the hardest part was timing the clutch release and the gas engaging that was difficult. i had a hard time keeping the car running. in the ten minute ride home i had stalled the car not once, not twice, but SIX times... twice before i had ever left the parking lot!! lol but dont judge me! that car isnt the easiest stick to drive in the entire world. i am sure there are lots easier ones out there. lol


as for my automatic car driving, it is getting better. i have only had two really scary incidents: i over corrected on a turn out front of my house and almost hit the mailbox, and the first time i backed out of a parking space, i hit the wrong pedal (gas instead of brake) and ALMOST hit the curb, but slammed on the brake just in time. yeah.. needless to say, i dont doubt that my seminary teacher from last year thinks that i am a bad driver, and now my oldest younger brother is terrified to sit in the car with me while im driving. hes scared of another incident i guess. lol :) but im doing better (at least i would like to say that i am!) and i look forward to more time with the manual transmission!

scripture bag

in times past i have been known to have a bad relationship with scriptures and the beautiful bad that holds it. since the first time i got my scriptures, i have exchanged my scriptures 3 times but kept the same bad. recently the bad ripped at the seam that held one side of a handle to the other. now the handle didnt rip, but about 1/4 inch below the handle did, so it was putting a lot of stress on the hole to carry my scriptures around by those handles. my idea was to just build a whole new case, but that changed when i found this really cute bag that i could make instead.

just recently i finished that bag:



the finished bag has pleats, two handles, and a huge inside. but no pockets inside!!





<>

inside of the bag

but the exciting part was i was able to find enough of some scraps that my mom had. she had used the two cotton pieces to make a skirt for christmas a couple years ago.



the two contrasting colors

the bag is super easy. nothing really complicated about it, except for maybe the slip-stitching you do at the end to close the whole in the lining. but nothing really else complicated.

the school bus

everyone knows what im talking about when i say that my bus is crowded.

this is about what my school bus looks like EVERY SINGLE STINKIN' DAY!

but im pretty sure that my bus is one of the few buses that has issues with WAYYY overly crowded. the only days that we DONT have three to a seat are half days were the high school gets out early. that is pretty much it.

today was the worst because
a) the bus was late picking up the high schoolers (aka me!)
b) it was really really crowded today
c) i was refused a seat because this idiot (there will be no name mentioning, just referals as name) refused to sit in a open seat-the last one!- and then held up everyone else getting on the bus and finding a seat
d) the ride home was awful because i had a freshman who thinks that swearing is the way to get popularity sitting right behind me, so i had to turn my music all the way up (not an unsual exprience on the bus, but quite uncomfortable because one earphone is broken) and missed out on a lot of conversation just trying to hear myself think!!

thats another thing that stinks about my bus: the noise level. some people just dont get it you are sitting in an enclosed area, so you dont have to yell to your seat partner to hear them. ***if you actually do, GET A HEARING AID, or GET YOUR EARS CHECKED, or TURN THE STUPID MUSIC DOWN!!*** for pete's sake, lets try and save some hearing for later in life.

i just really wanted to get that off of my chest so, yeah. you dont have to like it, but plz like comment or check the little box below.



***notes are loved, comments are appreciated, but conversation is needed***
(not intended copyright infringement if there is any in that sentence....)



--love you all--

the catch all posts of all catch all posts

i sincerely apologize for not keeping this updated! lol the last couple of weeks have been hectic beyond imagine, between school, band, church, and the naps i steal in between, i have had little free time. and thats partially bad time management on my part. but im working on it and i hope to keep up with the time and manage it better. lol

what has happened since the last post you ask?

well a lot of things lol

since then:
 i have been allowed to drive a good 12 times on the road. i was soo excited.

school started and i feel the consequences of having two honors plus an ap class in addition to band. friday     and wednesday nights are killer but by some miracle i make it all work.

the football season started and the team played three games: dobyns-bennett, oak ridge, and catholic. db was a blow out loss, oak ridge went into sudden death but we pulled it off and won, and catholic was a close game. with the catholic game we were up the first half, but going into the second we just lost it. a bunch of dropped passes and bad running. as you might have guessed we lost, leaving the team 1-2.

i started the Book of Mormon over again, and i am currently chugging along with 12 columns a day trying to read the BoM by the end of October. it is going to be close, but i think im going to make it.

my parents decided to take an anniversary trip (almost unheard of in my family) to dc. actually my dad was there for business, and he surprised her with an extra ticket to dc. she got the exciting courtesy of staying in an impressive 5 star hotel room, of course with a beautiful view of the potomac; or at least thats what ive heard lol

i went to Hoops for Hope and was allowed the privilege to help the team "managers" with the Down-Syndrome kids. such a neat experience. they are the sweetest things and i dont think ive been hugged so many times in one day. it was a really neat experience and i am soo excited for next year.

i went to a church activity with the entire stake plus one of the neighboring stakes. so i got to see my friend-boy that i really really like, and he likes me back. (: i know the hopeless romantic is coming out in me. but that night we added two more songs to our list of "our songs". we now cannot listen to hey soul sister, your love is my drug, and the only exception without thinking about each other. at least thats how i feel lol we cant really talk because he doesnt have unlimited texting (or i dont have the right phone service, either way) and i dont have a facebook. but im working on the facebook thing. mom and dad are contemplating it still.


that is really about it. my life has been sucked into the vortex of school, band, and the minuscule social life i  have. i barely have a life outside of that and any extra time i have is spend reading the Book of Mormon or sleeping. cuz i sure have not received the doctor-perscriped 9 hours of sleep in a LONG time. try more like 6-7 hours a night. it is really difficult to keep my eyes open during notes and videos and it really really stinks. but i guess thats high school. time to suck it up lol

legally licensed

watch out the world!! i took my number and waited for THREE (that's right, THREE) hours yesterday to finally get my permit!! aaaahhh!!! i almost didn't pass the test because i missed 6, but o my gosh!! i finally have the licence to drive around town!!!  i am soo pumped!! my dad took us yesterday to kind of drive around in an abandoned parking lot and kind of get the feeling for driving and turning. i am not the first girl to get a permit in my group of friends, but its still exciting to be able to join that club!! (:

city meet and the rest of band camp and the temple trip

band camp day four... ugh

thursday was actually very productive. the band learned most of our first song, eleanor rigby. the guard actually had some work to apply to the show, so we had to actually do the work and try to keep the chart correct. more difficult than you would ever know. that is, unless you've been through high school band and have had to use coordinate sheets instead of a visual of the move. that night we were going through a move and the guard was doing partner work. as i leaned out into a lunge and was leaning with my flag away from my partner. as i stepped through out of the lunge, i slipped and fell on my knee. because i was sweaty and disgusting from spending 80% of the day outside, the blood from scraping my knee open was flowing down my leg and making it a lot worse than it actually was. one of the first aid moms hooked me up with a couple of band aids and some alcohol wipes and sent me on my merry way. perfect! (: i ended up sitting the rest of practice on the side line watching the band practice moving into a couple of the more difficult charts. nerve racking right? not quite actually. when i got home, i had to wash out the wound (excruciatingly painful for someone who had slit open the skin on her knee four times, and then ripped more in little spots) and put a band aid on it. i ended up sleeping with an ace bandage AND a knee brace on it just to keep the band aid on.

the next morning was city meet. urgh.

i had to wake up around 545 just so we could leave the house and get to down town on time. i was a little nervous about swimming with my knee, but swimming wasnt as painful as i had anticipated. after my team finished warm ups i went and got a lifeguard to tape me up as to keep the "sweating" and bleeding down. walking around like i had a knee split on was fun but it really didnt hinder me much swimming wise. i ended up swimming all freestyle upon request. i did alright, placing lower than i would have like to. but, i did win my heat in the 100 free!! yipee!!!!

the next morning i woke up again and went downtown for the meet, this time to be a coach. i helped with some of the new and younger kids, and one of the little girls i helped, decided to swim at this huge meet. by the smile on her face when she got out of the pool, i could just tell that she absolutely loved every moment of it. she did her best and was grinning from ear to ear. when i wasnt screaming my guts out for her, i was following Ben, the head coach, around reminding him to get times for the other swimmers. he did pretty well at keeping on top of that.

band camp week two was just as brutal as week one, but the heat index was way worse because we had a storm front closing in. the football team was practicing a lot of the time while we were, and we all laughed as they wimped out when the heat reached 95. haha what whiners. we were able to add the second song and most of the third one. thursday night we had a huge dance for all band camp attendees. we sure had fun partying it up and dancing. friday was the last day of band camp. the blessed day had come!! hallelujah we reviewed the flow of the show, and then we practiced marching to anchors aweigh. o what fun lol jk!

that afternoon we drove to nashville to participate in a church trip. to the temple! yeah!! my favorite time of the year!! the family all caravaned down and we watched some of the littler kids so their parents could go to a session. saturday morning we all went to the temple to do a couple sessions and have a huge picnic lunch. i helped my mom print off the pictures that another sister took of the kids in front of the temple. some of the pictures were sooo adorable (:

band camp days 1-3

okay so the exhaustion and awfulness of band camp has begun. unfortunately. the first day was okay but really hot. we went over marching and marching with flags and marching while spinning and backwards marching and marching in a block and making them together and a bunch of other basic stuff. monday we decided that we were going to invite one of the middle school guard members to make our numbers an equal 15. lol believe me it does equal to an even number when you take out the three captains. promise.

yesterday was day two and that was awful. we did basics again because the middle school guard member had never done marching before so that was interesting. i felt really bad for her though because she made it all the way through the hardest practice (the morning practice) and as we were walking the school for our break, she lost the snack she had had at break. i felt really awful for her. but thats the only instance the guard has had so far.

today was awful too because it was muggy and humid. we actually got some drill put on for the show and it was nice to know that we were going somewhere with the show (: the only really bad part about it was the fact that we as the guard were put into the show by the band director, which is considerate, but not actually a good thing. because of the work that leslie had written for the opening part of the show involved a lot of tossing, the spots that the director had placed us in werent really going to work. unfortunately. so we had to work that out with the director and get the charts figured out. and then it rained during the morning practice (hallelujah), so we had to go in and clean the few 16's of work we actually had done. tonight's practice should be interesting in seeing how the charts and the work actually fit in with the music and the bands placement.

birthday surprises

my birthday was a week ago and unfortunately it wasnt much of a birthday. my family did me and my sister the courtesy of letting us sleep in. and like not until 830. like LATE. it felt really good though because we had had two swim meets in the past week. urghhh my parents had to attend the temple that night, so we ended up babysitting on our birthday which is almost just as bad as not being able to get your birthday presents on your actual birthday. thats right yall. i didnt get my birthday presents until the day after my birthday. i ended up getting a badly needed watch; apples to apples (yes!); some piano music that i had been craving for forever- the phantom of the opera! o my gosh i am in love with the piano music and it sounds soo cool on our piano yeah!! (:  i havent had the chance to play apples to apples yet, but hey, i still have city meet to come. all in all it was a monumental birthday because i can finally get my permit! hallelujah!

le finale swim meet

last night we swam against Beaver Brook Country Club in our final meet of the season. the best part, besides the score, was that i got to miss guard for it. YES!

their pool is even more awkward than Cherokee Country Club's because Beaver Brook's is 30 yards, instead of 25 yards. HOW WEIRD! a couple of us girls did the math, and then poor 200 IM-ers were doing 40 extra yards than they were used to. the blocks were bad also. they were tiny width wise, and it was difficult to do a backstroke start because the hand hold was a good two feet from the water's edge.

so i technically swam a 60 yard freestyle, the 60 yard breaststroke in the 240 yard medley relay, the 60 yard backstroke, and the last leg in the 240 yard free relay. killer right? well the good thing i guess is that we won against them (: 356-330 VH! woo hoo! i think we did awesome given that we were very short on swimmers, and im glad we ended the season with a bang.

catch up post/ GIRLS CAMP!! =)/ YOUTH CONFERENCE!

i know that it has been a while since ive posted! sorry!! i just got back from youth conference and ive been running around town trying to get things ready.

highlights of the past three weeks...

the fourth of july parade and those practices

well umm that is pretty self explanatory. the first night was a little interesting, because i got to catch up with all my alumni friends and talk with them. the colorguard had to teach the lovely alumni and the freshman anchors aweigh which is always a joy. the work is really easy, but the frustrating part is the silks we use on the flag are wayyy longer than they should be so the weight distribution is off, like wayyy off. so it was a little harder for the new and returning girls to get the work flowing.

the parade went really well. i was standing on the edge of the block that we march in. this was a great responsibility because i was in charge of keeping the line straight and it was kind of scary because i had to watch my line up with the band and then the other two girls in my line and then worry about the work. i had a great time though. let me see if i can name the people i saw... sextons, the usual clan of family, and the pulvers. and then of course all my friends parents from the band.

GIRLS CAMP!! =)

o my goodness. this is my favorite time of the year and im soo thankful for the opportunity that i had to go this year to STAKE camp. a chronology and details about it lol

we had to wake up super early to get everything ready on tuesday and be at the church at 7:45 AM! as to pack up the trailer that was taking our stuff up to camp and leave the church by 8 am. we were at the Girl's Scout Camp by 9:30. the first day is always a blast because you get to catch up with friends from the previous years and get acquainted again. the YCL's did a skit about this year's theme: SUPERHERO'S! and of course, their leaders FAVORITE song: pants on the ground. it was quite epic. the girls in my age group were: Lisa, Alex, me, Rachel, Katherine, Kaitlyn, Kelsey, Amanda, Jessica, Ashlee, Allison, and Summer. we were all knew each other from last year, and so we were able to skip the awkward first day getting to know each other again. that day we played in the pool and played some games like ninja and tug of war, but the most prominent one is the camp favorite, LITTLE SALLY WALKER! i wasnt a party pooper, but i was really tired so i didnt really participate. that night we stayed up the latest because we were so excited to be there with each other even if we were exhausted from the heat and all the rigorous playing. HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: during certification, our YCLs, natalie, jessica, katie, and kristen, were showing my age group (consisting of 12 girls) how to start a fire without matches. one of the ways that Katie was showing us was using steel wool, pencil shavings and a 9 volt battery. u make a nest out of the steel wool, "insulate" the nest with pencil shavings, and then pulled out a battery. she wasnt sure if it was going to work or not, so she gently touched the battery on the steel wool and kaboom! instant fire. she kind of got scared and threw it and screamed, so the leaders freaked out, but she was stamping it out before anything ever happened and the leaders found anything out. it was great.

wednesday was the annual hike and it was a little bit of a disappointment because we kept having to stop for the elderly leaders to hurry up or take a break. we learned some pointless information about the animals that inhabit the area, but we had a lot of fun with snapshots. we got to go canoeing and paddle boating later that afternoon and we had a lot of fun playing around in the cove. wednesday was one of our leaders birthdays so her husband brought up a cake. a couple of the ycls decided that to do a cake eating contest and it was soo funny. it went a little AWOL and some of the girls ended up with cake in their hair. the leader's favorite game in Little Sally Walker, so we played it just for her. that night we also did skits and it was a lot of fun to see the creative juices of all us girls flow into a hilarious play. each year had the same lines, but everyone had a very different interpretation of what to do with those lines.

thursday was a lot of fun too we played around a little bit with some flour in a tissue and had a "flour war".  some of the girls applied first aid to our "injuried" bodies. lol it was a lot of fun to see the creative-ness as we had to become injured by a "tissue bomb". then we had an all out war and pretty much everybody ended up with flour in their hair and/or down their shirt. poor sara got it in her hair and she looked like a grandma. big smiles and everything. sooo adorable though. that night was the testimony meeting and the Spirit was so strong me and Hannah again spent the great part bawling. we ran over lights out, so we had to adjourn to our cabin. for the devotional, our leaders and ycls decided to do a testimony meeting for those girls who hadnt had the chance. the plan was to stay up all night, but everyone pretty much hit a brick wall around 3 or 4 AM... for me, it was around 230. i had a lot of fun playing cards and talking.

friday was the last day and we had the opportunity to give out awards and clean up after a great week at camp. i was awarded the momma bat award because i try to include everyone and get everyone excited, etc.

Swim Meet

my swim team had a swim meet against ccc this past week. i did the 200 METER im; the breast in the 200 METER medley with alyssa, lizzy, and kaitlyn; the 50 METER breast, and the 200 METER free relay with the same girls. we had a lot of fun, but unfortunately the fun didnt pay off. we didnt win, unfortunately we lost BIG time, 294-409.

 YOUTH CONFERENCE 2010 (yeah :) )

okay so a preface before i give you exciting details. my dad took me and my sister out for our birthday. while we were out, my sister got a call from an 801 number. i knew that immediately as a Utah number, so i was nervous for her. rachel answered, and come to find out, it was a member of the Young Men's General Board, Brother Egan. he wanted to ask her if she would participate in a short talk he would be giving sometime that weekend. so the lunch kind of turned into a congratulations lunch and a birthday lunch instead of just a birthday lunch.

this past weekend i was able to go to Youth Conference at close by college. thursday we had to check in and then we had a dance later that night. the dance was a lot of fun as most dances are. it was kind of awkward and hot seeing how there was a good 500 kids in a tiny gymnasium, but there was a lot of mingling, and a lot of laughter. a lot of the girls found their C.O.W.'s (crush of the weekend) and got up the courage to get numbers and a dance. i got to bed around 1230 AM and ended up sleeping in my dress i had worn because i was freezing.

friday was an early morning because a friend came and knocked on our door at 630 AM!! aah. not cool. i answered the door with a really retarded smile and then proceeded to crawl back into bed. breakfast that morning was a good biscuit, a crappy egg, and some crappy bacon. when they planned the camp they allowed us to have 2 hours for each meal, so we took our time getting there. that morning we did a service project of picking up some trash on our side of the campus, and writing our testimonies on cards to place in books of mormon. the group i was in was given the field next to the dorm i was staying in. unfortunately there wasnt a lot of trash, so the people in my group go the chance to talk. i met jordan, isaiah, and matt. you talk about some funny guys. matt has a nickname of chip bc he is apparently looked like a chipmunk when he was little. and isaiah looks like david archuleta, so matt and me started calling him david, which kind of got on his nerves i guess. i also had the chance to meet and talk to a set of guy twins that were visting their uncle here, thus resulting in them going to the conference, andrew and hamilton. they are really funny also and i could tell that a couple of my friends really did like the chance to talk to them. that night we had a formal dance and they gave us again about two hours to get ready. i can sadly say that i used all of those two and a half hours to get ready. in my defense, i helped five other girls in the process so it wasnt all spent on me. my friend emma and i gave two girls some styling and make up tips before we helped the other three finish their hair. i wore a white skirt with black accents with a green shirt and coincedentally, a friend wore the same outfit! aah soo cool. we meant to take a picture, but that never happened unfortunately. on our way over to the recreational center, we ran into President Elaine S. Dalton, the General Young Women's President. you talk about a real honor to talk to and introduce yourself to a General Authority. the dance that night was a lot more fun. i knew a lot more people, so it was easier to talk to and find guys to dance with. i had kind of developed a crush for this guy and i got the chance to dance with him a lot. hes a lot of fun to talk to. i danced with a lot of guys and had the oppurtunity to get to know A LOT more guys. lucky me i guess lol  President Dalton and Brother Egan gave our devotional that night about be strong and of a good courage which was the theme for the conference. after the dance, we all literally made it to the dorm rooms before we passed out and slept.

saturday was not so much an early morning because we were actually allowed to sleep in with out interruption. we had some workshops about different things and then had the oppurtunity to hear from President Dalton and Brother Egan again. this time about consequences for our actions. about picking up a stick and picking up the other end, like it or not. it was very cool and really interesting to interact with them. after the workshops we had lunch and had some time to pack up and chill out. then we had a very interesting testimony meeting. President Dalton, Brother Egan and Elder Cornish all bore their testimonies and then turned the time over to the youth to bare their testimonies. a lot of the testimonies were sweet and short, which is always good. i didnt end up bawling like i usually do until i bore my testimony, and thank goodness for that. i didnt want to look like a fool next people i barely knew. hahahaha

then the sad day came and we had to say goodbye. i got some more phone numbers to keep in touch with people and said the sad things of see you soon and thanks so much for the fun.

dramatic haircut

i finally got the trendy bangs and the layers and short hair i have wanted for forever. im ecstatic! thanks so much to my hairdresser jennifer for the cut, and my mom for taking me to get. thats the after pic, but i forgot to take a before. sorry!

guard camp

the colorguard academy (a southeastern program for all high school and middle school guards) hosted another colorguard camp 2 weekends ago. it has taken a while because of the hectic life of a swimmer. lol i had a blast and learned a lot and this is how my story goes: lol

umm i had to wake up super early on thursday to prepare for the hectic weekend ahead of me, but it was worth it. friday was another early morning because i had to be at the high school the academy was hosting it at starting at 8 AM!! (i know, an ungoshly hour). of the 15 girls on my high school guard, 4 decided to show up, and a graduated senior (and just my luck, the one i dislike the most!) was allowed to come.

three out of my four instructors were dudes. the woman i had wasnt my favorite instructor and i didnt really learn anything new... but i definitely learned some new stuff in my flag, rifle, and dance classes! (ironically each one taught by a dude... coincedence,  I THINK SO!!) lol all the classes were fun and very enjoyable.

friday night the camp does a spinfest, wherein all the classes (ranging from beginnner, intermediate, to advanced) from each piece of equipment (saber, rifle, and flag) spun together, last man standing style. i unfortunately got fourth place on the intermediate flag, which is one place lower than they give out prizes for. aurgh... the graduated senior picked us up some points on one of the intermediate spins, earning us some points. (the school with the most points by the end of the night Saturday, was rewarded a certificate). i only participated in the flag spins, cuz those were the only ones i knew i had a chance of winning.

saturday was fun, about the same ideal, except we learned and finalized the routines that we had been doing friday. that night we had another spinfest, but instead of grouping off by class, we did it by equipment piece, all classes against each other. it was a lot of fun, but the only thing i tried at was flag again. (did i mention i can hardly spin a rifle and saber..) i didnt get as nearly as far this time because of the advanced students i was going against... :( we then performed all of our routines for the parents and the other classes. i really enjoyed doing the rifle, flag, and dance routines. not so much the saber. it was just too much of a joke. they being routines we did them to songs:

flag- bad romance, by of course GLEE!
rifle- disturbia, rihanna
saber- hey soul sister, train
dance- just for now, imogen heap

we almost did the flag one to airplanes by b.o.b. ft. hayley williams... but we decided to go for glee instead. :)

swim meet numbero uno of season

tuesday we had our first swim meet of the season and needless to say we did pretty well for only being in practice for a little over two weeks. the visting team beat us by only about 30 points: 320-349. it was a close meet and i congratulate both teams for their well deserved awesomeness.

for those who don't know, i work with the little kids, basically all the eight and unders, on the swim team, to help them learn and better the strokes. i was very proud of a particular little boy i work with, who did a 25 of butterfly (argueably the hardest stroke) using the petty memory he has of ever doing it, and did amazing. i have not gone over the stroke with those kids so for him to go and do the 25 in a relay, was amazing. i am soo proud of all the kids. some got over their fear of jumping in the water and swimming in front of such a massive crowd, others jumped of the brand new blocks having never done a swim meet in their entire life.

my pride could not be any higher, and i showed them that by awarding each and every one of the kids i work with a piece of candy for finishing the race and doing their best. i was soo proud and i cant wait to help them learn butterfly and properly learn breaststroke, seeing how i kind of crash coursed it on monday. (we didnt have an 8 and under boy breaststroker, so i had to crash course it to a swimmer who did the team last year, a new arrival who seemed to have the hang of it, and a boy who had learned the strokes a couple years back and has never applied them to anything). to all the girls and boys i work with: WELL DONE! i love you all and i wake up each morning so early just for you!!

flag day

happy flag day!

i know lots of people dont realize that today is flag day, but it is! haha watch the video linked to this post and you will see why we celebrate it :)

and yesterday's beetle bailey was pretty amazing:

just thought i would share some thoughts